The death of a veteran who was killed in a shark attack in Australia has been classed as a "provoked incident." Simon Nellist, 35, became the first person to die from a deadly shark attack in Sydney in 60 years after he was attacked by the great white.
The RAF veteran who completed two tours in Afghanistan had been swimming off the coast of Little Bay which is located east of the city when the 15ft shark struck just 500ft from the beach. Mr Nellist, from Penzance, Cornwall, moved to live in Australia with his fiancée Jessie and had been working as a diving instructor.
According to the Mirror, reports show that his death was the result of a "provoked incident." The findings were made public by the International Shark Attack File which classifies all incidents involving shark attacks worldwide.
Gavin Naylor, director for the Florida Programme for Shark Research, said there are several reasons why the incident was classified as provoked. "While Mr Nellist did nothing consciously to provoke an incident, he was swimming in an area where people were fishing," he told Shark Bytes YouTube channel.
"Fishing is an activity that draws sharks in. We therefore consider it provoked for our purposes."
As a result of the findings, Mr Nellist's death was not included in the statistics on unprovoked attacks.
He continued: "Any factor that draws sharks to an area – fishing, chumming, scalloping – or behaviour that goads the shark, riding them, petting them, feeding them... are thought to induce behaviours that are not typical."
Conservationists say that sharks do not consider humans food. But accidents can happen when people are in the water when the predators are hunting similar size prey such as seals or dolphins.
Experts have said that Simon may have been mistaken for a seal as his wetsuit would make him similar. He was known for always wearing the suit despite the warmth of the water.
Dr Chris Pepin-Neff said the silhouette created by the clothing would have likely confused the shark, who would have been lying in wait at the depth.
The Sydney Uni academic told news.com.au that it's "not crazy" for sharks to confuse humans for seals. He continued: "There have probably been only 10 or 12 attacks of this kind in the last 30 years in the entire world."
The author of Flaws: Shark Bites and Emotional Public Policymaking previously urged against the overuse of the term “shark attack” for all such encounters. He compared the incident to that of 17-year-old surfer Jevan Wright in 2001.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
